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History
The history of Saqquar The current year in Saqquar is 817 as the Imperial and Royal Calendar goes. We will refer to these dates as SC, or Standard Calendar from now on. According to the Halconic Dial, it is the year of 402, signing the birth of the prophet Inara who ended an era of bloodshed. We will refer to this as HD from now on, as Halconic Dial. Only events after Inara's birth have an HD age recorded. 817 years of history are not an easy task to write. This page will cover the most basic timeline, whereas events and important dates will be linked to their respective pages. The history of Saqquar can be easily categorized by a few eras with a relatively consistent them to them. Era of Beginning Once upon a time, a group of merchants decided to settle down after a life long travel around the continent at the delta of the Ifrit, and found the earliest form of what is now Markath. They built sturdy ships from the palms around the river, and ventured north to trade gemstones that would wash up on the shore in exchange for food and supplies. Many would seek out the settlement in hope of gaining wealth from this business, and the years would see Markath become a decent sized town. At the time, the city was one of the only settlements in the Saqquar area. The original traders who have founded the city soon became known as the Merchant Kings, and Markath continued developing as a city state. The gem of the Ifrit grew with the generations, until it would attract more people than it could hold. Soon, the descendants of the Merchant Kings, now known as the Merchant Princes would wander out into the lands nearby to find a palce to settle and form new colonies. This would lead to the founding of El Shamul, in an oasis not far north of the Ifrit. Her people worked tirelessly to make aliving from herding wild Krollans for their milk, and venturing south to the Ifrit for the seasonal harvest of wheat and reed. Most of the Merchant Princes decided to stay in Markath in the end, but some of them travelled to El Shamul to help with the developemment of the small colony. Era of Crusade Many years passed by, until El Shamul outgrew Markath, and became the larger city state. Thought the people of these two cities shared the same language and had similar ancestry, El Shamul was highly religious, whilst Markath was strictly focusing on wealth. A divide between these two town arose, and it would lead to the outcome humans have always resorted to in their tiemes of dofference: war. Some of the deepest beleifs in modern Saqquar history can be dated back to this era, as the almost fanatical believers from El Shamul interconnected war and their religion. Their belief, however, is heresy by modern standards. They beleived that the path of war and forceful spreading of their beleifs was the way to go about every day life. They blieved in the ways of the dragon: a merciless rage that is within every living being, ready to be unleashed upon their foes. Heated by this divine rage, it is no surprise that the fanatical warriors of El Shamul crushed the mercenary soldiers of Markath, conquering all the settlements in between the two major cities. In the end, Markath would surrender rather than to fight a war it couldn't win, letting in the armies of El Shamul to ransack the city, and ending the conflict in favor of the attackers. During the following decades, the El Shamul would expand along the river Ifrit, and start crusades against their northern neighbours. In these decades, they have pludnered villages as far north as the modern capital of Torivia, establishing the deep rooted traditions of cavalry tecniques in Saqquar. The earliest recordings of Ixclidis being rode to battle come from this time, where a band of incredibly daring fanatics rode nearly 20 of these lizards into battle, and becoming highly infamous as they ransacked many villages to the north. But this raiding lifestyle wouldn't go tolerated for long, and the northern city states around Granat would form a coalition to finally end the tyrannic rule of El Shamul over the region. This was the beginning of the Great Crusade, an era of time loosely defined by more than hundreds of years during which El Shamul waged a constant war against the coalition, and the two would exchange blows from generation to generation. This particular era defined the lifestyle of the people in Saqquar. They would make weapons instead of jewelry, and they were all trained in the arts of war. The religion of the Dragon was brainwashed into every man and woman in El Shamul, and people would willingly give their life for the ultimate victory. Those captured would commit suicide, and anyone captured by them would be executed by tying them to a pole in the desert. This blind devotion, and absolute hate against all those deemed heretics by the church led to the naming of this era full of bloodshed. Many doubted this war would ever end, but no-one expected a religious coup from within their own borders to end the war. A prophet by the name of Inara spoke against the violent ways of the ir religion, and told the people or Markath about a more peaceful way of existence, one lead by the shifting of seasons and a man's natural desire to live a fullfilled life. One by one, towns and cities abandoned El Shamul, and left it alone to fend off the coalition by itself. Meanwhile, Markath began construction on the Temple of the Halconics, as instructed by Inara, who was revered almost as a god amongst mortals. Thought she asked her followers not to revere her, her teachings were already spreading too fast for het to not be viewed as some goddess who ended this long war. When the coailition finally conquered El Shamul, and came to Markath, they found no army, but instead the citizens of the town following Inara into the grasslands to meet the armies of the north. On this sacred day, she would strike a deal, that would place Markath as the capital of this new coalition with the city states of the Granat. How she did it, is a mistery lost to time, but all believers are tuaght that the divine Halconics interfered to strike the deal. Through her life, she spread the ways of the 12 Halconics through the coalition, which would eventually take in El Shamul too, and convert it to the new religion. For nearly 56 years of her life, she has achieved something no-one before her could: she united the many young towns of the Granat, and the large cities of the Ifrit under a single banner: one she would call Saqquar after a divine dream. With her death at the age of 64, millions mourned her passing as they carried her body through the streets of Markath to set her earthly remains ablaze as the last rays of the sun had disappeared over the horizon. She would not live to see the temple of the Halconics be finished a year later, and her death meant the end of the Crusade Era. Golden Era of Saqquar After the death of Inara, the still relatively new coalition was torn when it came to choosing a successor for the throne. There was a general fear in the air, as amyn speculated that another bloody war would break out between major figures to see who would inherit the leadership. However, such a war would not take place, thanks to some important figures who have been forgotten in the Crusade Era. The Merchant Princes of Markath held significant power in their hands since Inara made Markath the capital of the South. They held significant provinces under their control all over Saqquar, and their influence was starting to restore pre Crusa Era levels. They petitioned to the great kings and rulers that there would be an election. Each city with provincial status would automatically send their liege to the election, and public elections would be held to determine one more candidate from amongst the nobles in each city. As such, the people of Saqquar could voice their demands too. The Merchant Princes would pay all the expenditure of setting up such a large scale event. It took 3 weeks to collect all the votes and get the chosen people to gather in Markath. Then, a week long festivity was held in the city, where people could listen to what each of the chosen representatives would have to say. Thought only nobles could vote on the successor, the common people's wishes were hard to ignore for any landlord. The festivities were also mean to cheer up the people of Saqquar, as many of the Pilgrims who decided to walk to markath would be able to rela and let go of their dreary thoughts regarding the death of Inara. At the end of the week, all 17 Merchant Princes gathered in Markath to announce the results of the election. Many expected one of the provincial lords to win, but in a surpirse turn of events, a young boy from Tayalet was the one who won by a landslide. His name was Imam Gremik, and thought nobody could suspect it, he and his children would bring around 250 years of prosperity for Saqquar. Imam's parents were both nobles who served the armies of the north as generals during the Crusade Era. Many acused him of cheating the polls, but since the majority of nobles who voted were from the north, they voted on the son of a well known family. To bolster his numerous talents, one major fact was playing for Imam on the elections: he had a tutor in the form of an exiled king from a faraway kingdom in the north. Thought the name of this king was lost to the ages, many attribute the succes of young Imam to this tutor. The young leader was only 19 when he first sat on the throne, and many of the nobles refused to follow him, arguing that he was too young an inexperienced. However, the charismatic Imam was not going to sit around idly to let Saqquar fall apart. Utilizing the vast knowledge passed down onto him by his tutor, he came up with a series of acts to reform and stabilize the governement. His first act was to secure the loyalty of the nobles, thus securing the future for his reforms. To do so, he devised an ingenious provincial system for Saqquar that would split up the already existing provinces into many smaller ones that would be all centered around key strategic locations, such as cities and fortresses. In the end, a grand total of 57 provinces were established, all with a landlord controlling them. He landed many princes and nobles to get their loyalty, and enact his system across the whole Empire. Once he finsihed this, most of the nobles became loyal to him, but ironically, the Lord of Tayalet still refused to follow him. To combat this, he founded the Senate of Saqquar: the reigning council of advisors and lords who would be working under the Sultan to create laws. To enact this, he passed the Bill of Saqquar to all his newly appointed lords, and coined the name of the country Saqquar for ages to come. The bill was a success: with the eyes of lords set upon the position of the senate and the great power that comes with it, they all agreed to follow Imam. However, he wished to abolish the feudalism in the country. He wished to see the rise of a Saqquar where the uttermost faith in the Sultan and the Halconics meant that there were no landlords, but servants of the ruler who fullified their duties for the people. Thought this plan couldn't be done in his lifetime, he would pass on this plan to his offsprings. Once the issues of rowdy nobles has been deal with, Imam saw to rewarding the Merchant Princes for their loyalty. He freed them from the taxes, and gave them the rule to self govern the Markath area. They would only need to answer the Sultan himself, and the Senate would have to jurisdiction over them. This established the modern influenceof the Merchant Princes, who are now trusted friends and advisors of the Sultan. To reform the economy, he instituted monopolies over gold and silver ore, and would pay for any landlord who would helped find a gold or silver mine on their land. With gold and silver abundant, he could mint high quality gold coins instead of the silver and brozne coins used before. This made the Saqquar market competitive yet again, and greatly boosted the trade in the region. He also spent a lot of the money on building infrastructure in the region. He requisitioned aquaducts that would help transport water away from the rivers of Ifrit and Granat. He gave funding to landlords to make them construct better agricultural systems on their lands, and he sent people to oversee that the money was well spent. He built watchtowers alongside mayor trade routes to deter bandits, and encouraged traders to seek out more profitable trade routes by providing soldiers to defend those willing to explore. To pay his respects to Inara, he would spend money straight from the treasury to buy resources and hire workers to speed up the construction of the Temple of Halconics. Thanks to his efforts, the temple was finsihed by the first anniversary of Inara's death, and hundreds of thousands wandered to markath to see the majestic building finished. Five years into his leadership, Imam was overcome with and Imperialistic fervor. He knew that to unite the people of Saqquar for long after he was gone, he would need to forge a strong bond between the various cultures of the nation. To do so, he began construction on the symbol of his greatness, and the unity of the people. He began the construction if the Imperial Palace in Tayalet, and turned the city into the new capital of the country. He formed the Scalguards, the elite woman's guard divisionr ecrutied from all the various ethnic groups of the Empire who would act as the personal bodyguards of the imperial family. He held great parades through the streets of the great cities of Saqquar, and hung up banners of the Imperial Sigil all over the Empire. With this, he layed the groundwork for the national pride of Saqquar. The Imperial Palace wasn't finished before Imam died however, and his son, Imam II took over leading the kingdom. Imam was given the title "the Benevolent", and his son viewev with great expectations. Following the wishes of his father, he too would continue to unite the people of the Empire, and would teach his kids the same. The following 250 or so years marked the Golden Age of Saqquar. The Empire became united under the Sultan, and people of all former ethnic groups were now simply Saqquarians. Saqquar saw no major conflicts, and it's economy and trade boomed under the benevolent rulership of Imam's sons. This was an era of peace and prosperity that the region has never experienced before. Markath continued to be the religious and economical capital of Saqquar, whilst northern cities like Tayalet and Horqath were the cultural and imperial hubs. by the end of this era, the Senate was reformed to be made up of the leaders of the 57 provinces, who were now appointed instead of passed on from landlords. Otherwise, the dream of Imam the Benevolent came true in the form of a rich, loyal and peaceful Saqquar. Era of Strife Nothing could last forever. With the death of Imam VII in 729 SC/314 HD, what seemed to be an endless empire was about to fall apart. Upon his death, he left behind a pair of twin brothers to lead the empire. However, none of the brothers wanted to give up their power, and both claimed the throne theirs. These brothers were named Granat and Ifrit, who would later give their names to the two major rivers of Saqquar through their ruthless actions against each other in the Eternal War. --TO BE CONTINUED--